Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Happy Birthday, Andy

ANDY WHYMENT (our Kirk Sutherland) Also known as Andrew Whyment.

Born: December 20, 1979 in Manchester

Our Kirk-eh joined the Coronation Street cast in October 2000. It wasn't his first appearance in The Street. The first time was in 1999. In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Andrew said: "I had a walk-on part as a guy called Wayne. I had to go into the Kabin and try to buy fireworks from Rita Sullivan's foster daughter, Sharon Gaskell. I only had about five lines of dialogue. I thought that would lead to something bigger, but it never did until now."

Prior to Corrie, Andy was probably best known for his role as Darren Sinclair-Jones in The Royle Family.

In the Sunday Mail, Andy said, "Since The Royle Family, I've been seen as this comedy actor. I'm quite pleased about that. With a face like this, is it any wonder I make people laugh?"

Andrew gets a lot of attention in public but he isn't complaining. He continues, "What I get now is: 'Hey, it's that bloke from The Royle Family... no, it's him from Coronation Street.' I don't mind the punters shouting out or having a laugh with me. At the end of the day, it's what you get paid for. It's a dream come true to be a part of two massive shows... they don't come much bigger than The Royle Family and Coronation Street. I don't see myself as famous. People seem to get excited when they meet me and I can't understand why. I'm nothing special. But if a fan gets a buzz when I give them an autograph... brilliant."

Andy went to dancing classes and studied tap, jazz, disco... and ballet. His sister was a pupil and he tagged along with her. He got a bit of stick at school about it but found that he really enjoyed dancing. "My speciality was disco and I won a few competitions. I was good at tap, too. But I hated ballet. So the chance of my being a kid like Billy Elliott never became a reality." Andy’s dance skills may not have panned out, but as well as being an actor, Andy’s a lead singer in a band.

Andy is also active raising money for the Hope Hospital Special Baby Care Unit in Manchester. He hosts fun nights to raise money for the unit. Andy was born there with under-developed lungs. “When I was born I was very poorly, and spent some time in the unit and this is my way of thanking them for all their hard work. They do a terrific job.”

No comments:

A luvly wee 'ome where Canadian fans of Coronation Street can come ter sit hammer and tack wiv a cuppa and rant and rave about the gahn ons on Corrie Street.
A word to any British fans, we are about 6 months behind on the episodes, so please don't tell us any juicey gossip like Ken Barlow and Vera Duckworth are having an affair.

A luvly wee 'ome where Canadian fans of Coronation Street can come ter sit hammer and tack wiv a cuppa and rant and rave about the gahn ons on Corrie Street.
A word to any British fans, we are about 6 months behind on the episodes, so please don't tell us any juicey gossip like Ken Barlow and Vera Duckworth are having an affair.